


A New Trick

by LaMarvirino



Category: The Impossible Julian Strande
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-03
Updated: 2020-08-03
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:21:26
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,558
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25681954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LaMarvirino/pseuds/LaMarvirino
Summary: A short that takes place during the visit of Alice's Aunt and Uncle.
Relationships: Alice/Julian
Comments: 1
Kudos: 6





	A New Trick

It would have been too easy, and altogether too fun, but his beautiful little rabbit wouldn't have liked it, and he had worked so hard to get her to where they were. And where were they? Happy, or something very close to it.   
Julian still didn't really know what to do with happy. It wasn't really something he had tried on very often while he was alive, and now, as a dead man, he wondered how any living man managed to contain the feeling. Surely the cage of mortal ribs would crack trying to contain the kind of emotion his Alice stirred in him. So it was for her benefit that he sat through tiresome dinner after tiresome dinner with her Aunt and Uncle, suppressing the urge to push her Aunt down the stairs every time she picked at Alice's posture or personality. When she had chided Alice for being lucky to have found a man who didn't mind that she was a mechanic, it was all he could do not to choke her from the inside and have it look for all the world like she simply inhaled her chicken parm wrong. The shadow of a smile drifted across Julian's face as he thought about all the ways he had refrained from removing the nuisances from their lives. Every time Alice's uncle had climbed under the hood of one of the behemoths of an automaton that wowed the visitors on to his museum on the daily, it would have been so easy for an accident to have sheared a decade of irritation and making excuses off their lives. But while Julian was an impatient man, first and foremost, he was a man in love, and his bride to be cared deeply about the Aunt who derided her and the Uncle who was slow to trust. So he made friendly.

That didn't stop him from playing tricks on them of course. After all, one can hardly invite someone to a sprawling mad man's mansion of eerie calliopes and unusual collections, renowned for being just quite possibly haunted, and let them leave believing that was just a ridiculous rumor. Alice had asked him not to scare them, of course, so he was careful about it. Nothing like what he'd done to his Alice. No, tormenting them had been nowhere near as entertaining, and of course, had been nowhere near as thorough. Far better to leave them a touch unsettled and maybe unsure they really wanted to visit that often rather than outright horrified. Horrified would have upset Alice, and he needed her with him, not leaving when the only other home she ever knew went away too.So it was little things. A watch on the nightstand where Alice used to keep his cards and roses that was suddenly gone when her Uncle went to put it back on, but back again after he and his wife had tossed the room quite thoroughly and given up. A cup of coffee that was empty one morning before her Aunt had a chance to drink it. A door swinging shut here, a window that shouldn't be open again there. Little things you could almost dismiss, and you certainly wouldn't bring up over dinner because you'd rather not sound senile. 

People who didn't want to seem like they were the problem were so fun to haunt. The ones with something to lose always just took it like it was a shameful secret, which made it all the funnier. Julian might have felt bad about it if they hadn't been so hard on Alice, but he could see with every little barbed comment exactly where her notion that she wasn't good enough had come from, and if he couldn't fully excise them from her life, he'd at least have his fun with them.He also found he had a new game he liked to play when they were staying with them. He discovered it one day while he and Alice had been rehearsing for a show. Her Aunt and Uncle had announced their intention to go see the Frank Lloyd Wright house in the next town over, and since he had a new trick he wanted to walk Alice through, things were going well.  
If Julian was honest with himself, and who was he kidding, he was never completely honest with anyone, he was only half invested in the trick, and more invested in the possibilities of the trick. 

***

She leaned against the open doorframe and waved her Aunt and Uncle off, and startled when she felt a hand running down her arm, the thumbnail digging ever so slightly into her skin, leaving goosebumps in its wake. She couldn't see him, but she could feel him as he nuzzled into her neck and whispered "meet me on stage. I want to try something new." Alice turned toward where Julian would have been, but she could tell by the shift in the air he was already gone.

Making her way to the auditorium, Alice took every shortcut she knew about, even the really narrow passage that had no lights, because she could feel how red her face was, and while it was a super slow day, they were open and she didn't need anyone to see her. When Alice pushed her way into the auditorium she pulled up short, just watching him standing there on the stage under the lights, fiddling with a table. This prop looked to be somewhat less complicated than the usual tricks. It just looked like a long rectangular table. Nothing special. No chains, no clamps, no restraints of any kind. Scanning the immediate area she saw no secondary table. No swords, no knives, no ropes. Nothing unusual. Curiosity piqued, she made her way toward the stage.

"No shackles today?"

Julian smiled at her, his eyes flashing from hazel into his fiendish natural, if natural was a phrase you could use for a ghost, mismatch of blue and brown that always took her breath away. "However much I love it when you're bound, no, not today." His smile widened and her heartbeat sped up as though she were a freaking teenager. "Unless you want me to get some, far be it for me to turn you down if you want to be at my mercy."

"Need I remind you it's a work day?"

"Need I remind you you took the week off to visit your old people?" Julian's smile morphed into his famous smirk. He could have had her then and there if it wasn't for her damnedable work ethic and she knew he knew it. She needed to correct course before he got comfortable with workday sexcapades. "Besides, you wouldn't be on the clock for another hour anyway," he astutely pointed out, pulling her into his arms.

"New trick?" Alice reminded him, pushing gently on his chest before her barely-there resolve crumbled. 

"Ah, yes. Right. That." Julian smoothed his shirt and ran his hands through his "Charles" hair, and Alice bit back a tiny laugh watching him wear both selves so well. "Please, lie down on the table."

"What do I have to do?"

"For this, just that. I do everything else. You simply lie still and be delectable."

Alice glared at him. "This doesn't sound much like a magic trick. More like a 'trick Alice into fooling around.'"

He winked. "That too, but no. I do need an assistant for this. Now, lie still." Julian pulled down in the air over her and a sheet appeared out of nowhere. She resisted the urge to ask him if he'd been hiding it up his ass, because she knew he'd use it as an opportunity to ask her to inspect said glorious ass for any hint of hidden objects, and while that may or may not be a game they'd played, it certainly wasn't going to be one she wanted to play on stage. 

The sheet fell over her body in what felt like slow motion, caught on the air in a dramatic billow, draping her all too evenly and gracefully. Alice pursed her lips. "Show off."

"I try," Julian laughed, and she smiled at him. "Now, I'm going to remove the legs. Just so you know." Alice's eyes went round like a frightened rabbit and he placed a finger to her lips and kissed her forehead softly. "I won't let you fall," his lips whispered against her hair.

CLANG. Her shoulders jumped as she heard the first table leg hit the ground. She hadn't even felt it come off the table. CLANG. The second soon followed and her breathing picked up. She knew she shouldn't panic so much, it's not like he'd never lifted her bodily off the ground before, but she'd always had a fear of falling, and this was the support being removed right from under her! CLANG. Another. Now there was only one table leg left. Julian looked down at her with a mixture of amusement and mischief. "Oh, Alice, you are perfect. You have no idea how beautiful when you are terrified." He paused thoughtfully, trailing a hand down her cheek slowly. "You can't help it either, can you?" 

She shook her head the tiniest bit. She hadn't started shaking, but she knew it wasn't far off if she kept thinking about the fact that- CLANG. She yelped and tightened her muscles, bracing for impact, but nothing happened. It was as if the table legs on the floor and the sound they made were an illusion. Knowing Julian, they very well could be, but it was still hard to override the part of her brain screaming that she was about to fall and hit her head at any given moment. Julian bent over and kissed her and for a moment she felt the tension on her shoulders and neck letting go. She wanted to reach up to him, but was still afraid to move, but then she felt it, or rather, didn't.

As he pulled away she realized the table beneath her was gone. It was just her, covered in a wisp of a sheet floating in front of Julian. Sure, everyone had seen the floating woman trick before, but there was a difference between being a woman on a tiny board carefully holding still while a s bend rod held you up, and being a woman who was legit floating on stage with nothing but the attention of a madman, a sexy genius of a madman, but a madman, keeping you from falling. 

"You okay?" he asked, searching her eyes. Clearly not pleased with what he saw there a look of determination settled over his features. She'd have shrunk away, but there was nowhere to go, and even if there had been, she was still a little too nervous to move. The logical part of her brain told her to calm down. He'd held her inches over the couch before. He'd floated her to bed before. But he'd never floated her feet off the ground for this long before, and if she remembered correctly, when his attention had been broken on the couch, she'd fallen. No, she wasn't going to be moving, no matter how much that look on his face made her want to squirm.

But then he was kissing her again, and for a moment she could lose herself in the familiarity of it. She started to reach up to grip onto him but her arm wouldn't move. "Ah, ah, little rabbit, I said for you to lie still," he chided, then pulled away a moment and ran his hand over her body, but instead she felt his hand under her clothes as though both they and the sheet weren't there at all. She let out a quiet moan as he ghosted a hand over her breast. "Oh? What's this?" Julian asked, his head cocked to the side. "Is that a yes, or a no?" If glares alone could send one off to their grave, Julian would have found himself cuddling Inky and not slowly rolling the palm of his hand over her nipple. "Tell me to stop," he coaxed, and she pressed her teeth into her lip. "Tell me you don't want this, and we will be done," he offered, his voice sounding almost bored, but the look on his face painfully hungry as he reduced the pressure with which he stroked her breast, knowing damn well she'd arch into his touch, chasing the sensation. Julian let out an over-dramatic disappointed sigh. "Alas, your chance is up, I'm afraid, and now you're all mine."

If she hadn't been watching the predatory smile on his face, she might have believed the bored and defeated offhand tone in his voice, but his eyes told another story entirely. She was about to be utterly devoured, and she was as hungry for it as he was.

***

Oh, when she was afraid it did such things to him, but this? This was beyond perfect. Watching her fight her irrational fear, helping her transmute it into lust. If ever any god created a perfect piece of artwork, it was surely Alice. Yes, suspending her body would be a fine trick to add to the routine, and maybe once she was in the air he'd play with position a bit. After trying it out he was certain it had the right optics, but right now, that wasn't where his mind was. His mind was on her and in her. She was perfect and she was his, and he needed to remind his body, as it was, and hers, of that fact. He loved her in chains, but this was a new kind of helpless, and it was exquisite.

Of course, this wasn't the only new trick he wanted to try this morning. They'd played a lot of games with feeling her through her clothes with his hands and fingers, but there was so much more to him than just hands and fingers, and so many more ways to touch her. Besides, once she realized how utterly easy it was for the two of them to explore the benefits of his condition, maybe she'd be less dogmatic about the whole work day thing. Wasn't there some labor law about mandatory breaks after all? It was all after his time, but he was sure that somewhere he'd had to post some department of labor poster about employees rights or such modern nonsense, and that was one of the things he had to give people. Breaks. And what better way to spend fifteen minutes than with his tongue worshiping her? 

With that thought in mind he carefully spread her legs apart, oh so slowly. He imagined that to her it must have felt something akin to moving through water, with the way he was cradling her whole body in the air. He couldn't be too careful after all, and so to move her he simply eased up the pressure holding her in place incrementally until he could gently push her legs open, before letting it build again to hold her still. So much better than shackling her to the bed. And so much more ingenious. How much did she suppose was him and how much her own fear of falling? He smiled, looking at her and rolling a nipple between his fingers, before pinching hard, then smoothing it with his palm, then he sank his head through the sheet and between her legs. She made a startled noise as he did, and he imagined it must have looked unsettling, but the noise was swallowed by a moan as he swirled his tongue over her clit. By all the gods in all the heavens, and all the demons in every corner of hell, he loved being a ghost, if for no other reason than he could tongue fuck Alice while holding her hands, running his hands through her hair, and tormenting her nipples at the same time. 

The poor girl. He could feel her thighs barely quivering and her hips trying to rut against his face, but still he held her in place. No, he'd said hold still, and he'd meant hold still, but oh, the taste of her on his tongue and the feel of her, he was sure this kind of joy would have killed a mortal man. It wasn't until she'd already cried out in orgasm twice that he finally pulled his head up to look at her again, her glorious forehead beaded with sweat, her eyes nearly closed. Perfect. 

It was just about the same time when he felt, or rather heard something unexpected in the house. Usually he could tune out everything being said, everything being done, unless he wanted to hear it or see it, but somehow, coming up for air, not that he needed it, a question and an answer had hooked his notice, and a wicked thought took root in his mind. It was an innocent question, and an equally innocent answer. "Do you know where Alice is?" spoken by a harried older woman, and a familiar voice saying "I think she and Charles were working on something for the show in the auditorium." Julian smiled wickedly at Alice. Oh yes, they were definitely working on something.

With her eyes half closed, he slowly began to raise them higher. He'd long ago promised her he'd fuck her on the ceiling, and she was so far gone in blissful surrender she wasn't even aware of the room anymore. As they rose he pushed her legs further apart and settled his hips between hers. He'd never tried letting his cock pass through his own pants before. Sure he ate and drank, but the food just disappeared so he didn't need to use the bathroom, so prior to Alice, he really didn't have a lot of cock handling reasons, and when she still thought he was Charles, he wasn't exactly going to try that sort of stunt. They'd been slowly experimenting with what it meant to have sex with a ghost, and it occured to him, if he could pass through her clothes, he could pass through his too, and so it was he leaned in and pushed hard and long into her. She gasped and moaned his name. On another day, he might have peaked from that alone, but he settled into a slow rhythm as they reached the ceiling over the front of the stage. He rolled his hips and felt her contract around him. Good lord, he'd left no room for her to move, and so she was going to milk him instead, the little minx. He had half a mind to slap her thigh, after all, he'd told her to hold still, but damn, if it didn't feel too good to ever want her to stop. He lifted a hand to press to the ceiling, focusing on pushing into her firmly and fully with long hard even strokes. She started to moan and he picked up the pace but clamped a hand over her mouth. 

***

"Alice? Are you in here?" The sound of her Aunt's voice brought Alice out of the haze of orgasm and her eyes shot open in horror, her head whipping toward the sound. That's when she realized a four things at the same time. One. She was not where she thought she was. Two. She could not see her Aunt. Three, She was a solid twenty feet off the ground. Four, Julian was still pushing into her, clearly at the edge of his own release. Eyes wide and terrified she found herself still squeezing greedily against each of his thrusts. What was wrong with her? "Alice?" Her Aunt called again? She heard her Aunt sigh heavily and leave the room. Julian's hand unclasped her mouth and he leaned in and kissed her, hard and possessively as he stilled a moment and she felt him filling her.

Some part of her wanted to slap him, but she still couldn't move, but another, stranger, more twisted part of her wanted to pull him closer. Sadly, he was the Impossible Julian Strande, and this was his stage, and he was running the show. Slowly, oh so slowly, he worked his way out of her body as he lowered her back to the ground. Without a word, he pulled away from her, ran his hands gently up and down her legs, a faraway look of contentment on his face, and then slowly pressed them back into a closed position. He stepped back, picked up the table top, slid it back under her, and then one clang at a time reassembled the table. He helped her down with a satisfied smirk on his face and then held her hand up high as though it were a curtain call, so she curtsied while he bowed, and the two of them fell over laughing.

It wasn't the last time Alice's Aunt or Uncle nearly saw the two of them together, and Alice quickly figured out that it must be Julian's new favorite game. But she trusted him. She was probably stupid for it, but she did. She loved him, and she trusted him, and inch by inch, she was starting to be less afraid of falling, because she knew he'd always be there to catch her.


End file.
